The playful wonderland behind great inventions | Steven Johnson

譯者: 易帆 余 審譯者: Hui chu Chen

(Music)

（音樂）

Roughly 43,000 years ago,

約在四萬三千年以前

a young cave bear died in the rolling hills

一隻年輕的洞熊

死於現今斯洛維尼亞 西北邊界的山巒中

on the northwest border of modern day Slovenia.

A thousand years later, a mammoth died in southern Germany.

一千年後，一頭長毛象 死於德國的南部

A few centuries after that, a griffon vulture also died

幾個世紀過後，一隻西域兀鷲

in the same vicinity.

也在附近死去

我們對這些動物的死亡原因 幾乎一無所知

And we know almost nothing about how these animals met their deaths,

but these different creatures dispersed across both time and space

但這些不同的生物 跨越時空和不同地點

did share one remarkable fate.

卻有著同樣不同凡響的命運

After their deaths, a bone from each of their skeletons

在牠們死後，身上的骨頭

was crafted by human hands

經由人類的手製成

into a flute.

一隻笛子

Think about that for a second.

想像自己是

Imagine you're a caveman, 40,000 years ago.

四萬年前的山頂洞人

You've mastered fire.

很會用火

You've built simple tools for hunting.

也會製造些簡單的狩獵工具

You've learned how to craft garments from animal skins

也知道如何用動物皮毛製成衣服

to keep yourself warm in the winter.

在冬天時保持溫暖

What would you choose to invent next?

接下來你會想發明什麽？

It seems preposterous that you would invent the flute,

發明笛子聽起來很荒謬

a tool that created useless vibrations in air molecules.

只是一種讓空氣分子 震盪的無用工具

But that is exactly what our ancestors did.

但這就是我們祖先曾經做的事

在人類的發明史中

Now this turns out to be surprisingly common

in the history of innovation.

出乎意料是相當常見的

Sometimes people invent things

人們發明的原因

because they want to stay alive or feed their children

不外乎是為了要求生存 或者餵飽孩子

or conquer the village next door.

或是攻占隔壁村莊

But just as often,

但很多時候

new ideas come into the world

世界上的一些新發明

simply because they're fun.

僅僅出自於好玩

And here's the really strange thing:

而真正奇怪的是

many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions

很多用於玩樂、看似沒用的發明

ended up sparking momentous transformations

最後卻能在科學、政治和社會上

in science, in politics and society.

產生重大的轉變

Take what may be the most important invention of modern times:

舉一個當今世代最重要的發明

programmable computers.

可程式電腦

Now, the standard story is that computers descend from military technology,

一般來說電腦一開始沿用軍方科技

since many of the early computers were designed specifically

早期許多電腦都是專門設計

to crack wartime codes or calculate rocket trajectories.

在戰爭時用來破解密碼 或計算火箭運輸軌道

But in fact, the origins of the modern computer

但事實上，現代電腦的始祖

are much more playful,

起源是因為有趣的活動

even musical,

非常具有音樂性的

than you might imagine.

跟你想的不一樣

The idea behind the flute,

笛子的發明

of just pushing air through tubes to make a sound,

僅是透過管子 推動空氣來產生聲音而已

was eventually modified to create the first organ

改良加工之後成為

more than 2,000 years ago.

兩千多年前的第一個風琴

Someone came up with the brilliant idea of triggering sounds

有人想出了一個能製造出聲音的好主意

by pressing small levers with our fingers,

藉由我們的手指按壓槓桿來產生聲音

inventing the first musical keyboard.

發明了第一個鍵盤樂器

Now, keyboards evolved from organs to clavichords to harpsichords

鍵盤從管風琴發展到翼琴 衍生到大鍵琴

to the piano,

到今日的鋼琴

until the middle of the 19th century,

直到十九世紀中期

when a bunch of inventors finally hit on the idea

一群發明家終於想到

of using a keyboard to trigger not sounds but letters.

使用鍵盤敲打出文字而非彈出聲音

In fact, the very first typewriter

事實上，第一台打字機

was originally called "the writing harpsichord."

原名則是「寫字大鍵琴」

Flutes and music led to even more powerful breakthroughs.

笛子加上音樂 給生活帶來了更多的轉變

About a thousand years ago,

大約一千年以前

at the height of the Islamic Renaissance,

在伊斯蘭復興運動的高峰期間

three brothers in Baghdad designed a device

在巴格達的三兄弟設計了一個裝置

that was an automated organ.

即為自動風琴

They called it "the instrument that plays itself."

他們稱它做「會自己演奏的樂器」

Now, the instrument was basically a giant music box.

那個樂器基本上就是一個大型音樂盒

The organ could be trained to play various songs by using instructions

樂器能自己奏出許多不同樂曲

藉由金屬片撥動 編碼在圓筒上的點而產生音樂

encoded by placing pins on a rotating cylinder.

And if you wanted the machine to play a different song,

如果你想換一首曲子

you just swapped a new cylinder in with a different code on it.

只需要換上一個新的 編碼過的圓筒就行了

This instrument was the first of its kind.

這樂器是第一個被發明出來

It was programmable.

可以程式的

Now, conceptually, this was a massive leap forward.

從概念上來說 這是一個非常大的進步

The whole idea of hardware and software

這個發明裡面軟硬體結合的想法

becomes thinkable for the first time with this invention.

讓人覺得有很大的想像空間

And that incredibly powerful concept

這個不可思議的想像空間

didn't come to us as an instrument of war or of conquest,

不是為了戰爭或征服而發明

or necessity at all.

也不是什麼生活必需品

It came from the strange delight of watching a machine play music.

僅是來自於欣賞音樂盒 播放音樂時的美妙樂趣

In fact, the idea of programmable machines

事實上，可程式機器的概念

was exclusively kept alive by music for about 700 years.

存在於音樂世界中已經有七百多年

In the 1700s, music-making machines

在十八世紀，能奏出音樂的機器

became the playthings of the Parisian elite.

成了巴黎貴族們的收藏玩物

Showmen used the same coded cylinders

雜耍藝人使用相同的編碼圓筒

to control the physical movements of what were called automata,

去控制稱為「Automata」 自動機的各種動作

an early kind of robot.

就是機器人最早的雛形

One of the most famous of those robots

這些機器人中最著名的

was, you guessed it, an automated flute player

各位猜到了嗎？

是一個能演奏笛子的機器人

designed by a brilliant French inventor

由傑出的法國發明家 賈奎茲‧迪‧沃康松設計出來

named Jacques de Vaucanson.

And as de Vaucanson was designing his robot musician,

當在設計他的機器人音樂家時

he had another idea.

他萌生了另外一個想法

If you could program a machine to make pleasing sounds,

如果可以透過程式 讓機器產生令人愉悅的音樂

why not program it to weave delightful patterns of color out of cloth?

為什麽不能透過程式讓它在 衣服上編織出色彩斑斕的圖案呢？

Instead of using the pins of the cylinder to represent musical notes,

原本圓筒上面代表的音符

they would represent threads with different colors.

能否試試用不同顏色的線來代替

If you wanted a new pattern for your fabric,

如果想編織一塊新的樣式

you just programmed a new cylinder.

只需要換上新程式的圓筒

This was the first programmable loom.

第一台自動織布機就此產生

Now, the cylinders were too expensive and time-consuming to make,

但當時這種圓筒相當昂貴 製造過程也很耗時

but a half century later,

但半個世紀之後

another French inventor named Jacquard

另一個名叫查卡的法國發明家

hit upon the brilliant idea of using paper-punched cards

想到了一個絕佳點子 用紙做的「打孔卡」

instead of metal cylinders.

來代替金屬圓筒

Paper turned out to be much cheaper and more flexible

紙張的多種用途加上便宜的價格

as a way of programming the device.

在可程式設備的發展史中幫助很大

That punch card system inspired Victorian inventor Charles Babbage

打孔卡系統啟發了維多利亞時期的 發明家查爾斯·巴貝奇

to create his analytical engine,

發明了他的第一台分析機

the first true programmable computer

史上第一台電腦

史無前例的發明

ever designed.

And punch cards were used by computer programmers

這些打孔卡仍被電腦程式人員廣泛使用

as late as the 1970s.

直到二十世紀 1970 年代末

So ask yourself this question:

所以，試想一下

what really made the modern computer possible?

究竟是什麽造就了現代電腦？

Yes, the military involvement is an important part of the story,

沒錯，軍方的介入 的確是一個重要因素

but inventing a computer also required other building blocks:

但發明一台電腦還需要其他組件

music boxes,

音樂箱

toy robot flute players,

玩具笛子演奏機器人

harpsichord keyboards,

大鍵琴的鍵盤

colorful patterns woven into fabric,

彩色圖案編織布

and that's just a small part of the story.

這都是故事的一小部分

There's a long list of world-changing ideas and technologies

還有一堆能改變世界的想法和科技

that came out of play:

都來自於娛樂

public museums, rubber,

公眾博物館、橡膠球

probability theory, the insurance business

機率理論、保險業務

and many more.

許許多多

Necessity isn't always the mother of invention.

需要並不總是發明之母

The playful state of mind is fundamentally exploratory,

腦中愛玩的性格才是探索的基礎

seeking out new possibilities in the world around us.

在周圍的世界裡，探索那些新的可能

And that seeking is why so many experiences

而這種單純探索娛樂的動機

that started with simple delight and amusement

正是許多實驗的開端

eventually led us to profound breakthroughs.

最終引領我們成就更大的突破

Now, I think this has implications for how we teach kids in school

我認為，這裡面蘊涵 我們要如何在學校教育孩子

and how we encourage innovation in our workspaces,

如何在我們的工作場所鼓勵創新

but thinking about play and delight this way

而就在我們這樣 尋找娛樂和開心的路上

also helps us detect what's coming next.

也幫助了我們預測未來會發生的事

Think about it: if you were sitting there in 1750

想像一下穿越時空回到 1750 年

trying to figure out the big changes coming to society

想了解即將於十九世紀 二十世紀社會發生的重大改變

in the 19th, the 20th centuries,

automated machines, computers,

那些自動機器、電腦

artificial intelligence,

人工智慧

a programmable flute

自動演奏的笛子

entertaining the Parisian elite

娛樂了巴黎上等社會

would have been as powerful a clue as anything else at the time.

就是一個非常強而有力的線索證明

It seemed like an amusement at best,

發明看起來也許只適用於娛樂

not useful in any serious way,

沒有什麽正經的用途

but it turned out to be the beginning of a tech revolution

但最後成為改變世界科技革命的開端

that would change the world.

You'll find the future

娛樂帶給人們未來的發展無限可能

wherever people are having the most fun.